The Journey
by Cody Furlong
Summary: When the future is lost, one Kat must set out to save it and the past. Three Chapters done.
1. The Darkness Begins

I do not own the Swatkats. I do own Cody.

Thanks to Ulyferal for being my Beta Reader.

Prologue - The Darkness Begins

By Cody Furlong

What stood in front of Commander Feral was no longer a Swat Kat. What stood before him now was the broken, shattered visage of what once was a Swat Kat. When he peered into the dark eyes of the once great hero, he no longer saw the joy, hope and happiness that the big tabby once had, only pain, loss and suffering. It was as if the tabby's very soul had been ripped from it's body and tortured in the flames of a thousand fires.

T-Bone stood with the limp form of his friend cradled in his arms. Arching his back, head held to the sky, he let out a primal roar from the very depths of his being. Razor his friend, his partner… …NO!…. his BROTHER…. for so many years lay dead.

_Two Years Later….._

Chance Furlong lay in bed dreaming. It wasn't the sort of dream one would have liked to have experienced, but, unfortunately, it was one he had often. In it, he saw himself back on that terrible day.

_Silhouetted against the flaming wreckage of the Turbokat with his mournful howl still reverberating off the walls of Megakat City, he stooped to lay Razor's body on the remains of the Enforcer's flight line._

_Gently, he pulled off Razor's helmet followed by his mask then standing, he turned and faced the gathered kats behind him._

"_Only you will know our secret." He intoned darkly as he pulled his own helmet and mask off._

_Turning away from the watchers, not wanting to see the saddened looks of shock on their faces, he slowly walked away. He ended up sitting on a chunk of concrete that had once been a part of the control tower, with his back to the group. He watched the blurry red sun set over the ruins of the once great city as his tears began to fall._

_The silence, that had descended after his tortured cry had faded away, was broken only by the sounds of the burning Turbokat and the soft sobbing of the Deputy Mayor._

Chance bolted up in bed panting heavily, his fur damp with sweat. He took in the dark room around him. Swinging his legs out from under the sheets, he sat on the edge of the bed, before burying his head in his paws and sighing sadly. So lost in his own thoughts he never noticed the bedside table lamp switch on until he felt a light touch on one of his broad shoulders.

"What's wrong Stripes, more nightmares?" The soft low voice of his mate reached his ears.

"Yeah, bout him." Chance replied in a low whisper, looking over his shoulder at her.

"Oh love, I know you miss him, it'll be ok you'll see." Felina soothed, sliding across the bed to embrace the tom-kat and gently wipe the tears from his cheeks.

"I know." He sighed back. "I'm gona go take a shower." He added noticing the time on the alarm clock, before standing and walking in to the bathroom closing the door behind him.

Seconds later she heard the cold water tap turn on. Sighing as she noted they still has an hour before they needed to be up. She climbed out of bed, deciding that coffee was what they needed and padded to the kitchen. It was minutes later when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist from behind.

"How are my kittens doing this morning?" Chance purred.

Felina chuckled lightly. "We're doing great."

"That's good, now c'mere." Chance replied before pulling her around into a kiss. "Now, how bout I make us some breakfast?" Chance asked after their lips parted.

"Sounds great Hotshot." The she-kat returned before kissing the tom again, then leaving to take her own shower.

When Felina returned, she found her mate staring down at his partially eaten food.

"What's wrong love, still worried about your dream?" She asked, she knew how bad Chance's dreams of Jake could get, and lately they had been returning stronger and more often.

"Yeah." The tiger striped tom sighed. "I'm going to go see him." Chance looked up from his plate. "I think my nightmares mean something Fel."

"They have been getting worse." She sighed in agreement. "You think that if you go see Jake that it will help?" She asked.

"I don't know." He breathed, before shoveling down the rest of his eggs.

_Later that day…_

A few hours after lunch, Chance climbed off his bike in front of the cemetery. As he walked through the rows of tombstones, he thought about what he would say, his dreams and what he had just been told at work. The memorial of the kat he had come to see lay in the back, in the "hero's" section on top of a low hill. Kneeling in front of a specific headstone he brushed his fingers across it's scripted name.

"Hey bro." His voice came out horse and soft. "How ya been? I've missed you so much little brother. I've been thinking about you a lot lately. Hey guess what? I hope you are ready to be an uncle, I'm going to be a dad soon. A son, can you believe it? His full name is going to be Cody Jake Furlong. I gave him his middle name in honor of you buddy." Chance heaved out a heavy sigh, before his head drooped low. "It's a shame I wont be there for him. To be able to hold him in my arms when he is born, or to see him grow up. I got the word we've been waiting for today, it's almost time. The next time we talk, it'll be face to face again." He looked back up. "I should go, I still have to give Felina the news. I'll see you soon brother." With a parting caress to Jake's name, Chance stood and left.

_Meanwhile…_

On the other side of the city, Felina was unsuccessfully trying to get to her and Chance's apartment. But the inflow of kats going back to work after lunch was making her task more difficult.

She had gone looking for her mate to see if they could have lunch together, but found her uncle's assistant, the Sergeant instead. When she asked if he had seen Chance. He replied that he had seen the Commander approach Flight Commander Furlong just before lunch. The two spoke briefly, before the Flight Commander followed the Commander back into his office.

He finished by saying that several minutes later, he saw Furlong running from the Commander's office with a grim expression on his face and had not seen him since. Felina questioned him more deeply to see if he knew what her uncle wanted with Chance, but his answer was disappointing.

"I don't know. But the strange thing was, right after Chance ran out, Feral had called me inside, and told me that he had some things to take care of and would not be here for the rest of the day then promptly left without saying where he would be if we needed to contact him." He said, a small frown of concern creasing his face.

Sighing in frustration, she thanked the Sergeant and went on her way. She was quickly becoming more confused and worried about what was going on. She thought that if Chance left then he might of gone back to their apartment, so she decided to return home and see.

When Felina finally burst through the door, she found Chance sitting at the kitchen table with a thick, red, leather bound book. She quickly recognized it as the same book Chance had spent the last year and a half writing in. She knew what was imprinted upon it's pages and what it meant. It filled her with dread. She approached him as Chance was flipping through the last few pages, as if checking to see if all the words where in their place.

"Hey Stripes." The dark furred she-kat greeted as she sat down.

Chance closed his book and sat it down in between them before looking up.

"Hey Kitten." He greeted back, it was followed by several seconds of uncomfortable silence as they each thought about what to say and how to say it.

Felina broke the stillness first "I went looking for you earlier at lunch."

"I went to see Jake, I finally know what my dreams mean." Chance said, cutting off her unasked question.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with what my uncle wanted to see you about would it, or that." She replied knowingly, gesturing to the book sitting on the table.

"Yeah it does." Chance sighed greatly. "It's time Fel, that's what my dreams mean, they are a warning."

Felina gasped. "Are you sure?"

"Yes Ulysses confirmed it." Chance wispered darkly. "I'm sorry love, that I won't be there for you and our son. But we knew this day was coming. Uly has already begun his part and now I must entrust this to you, for yours." Chance intoned picking up his journal and giving it to her.

Felina took it reluctantly, clutching it to her chest as if it was a precious artifact.

"Remember I will always love you and our son." Chance whispered pulling his mate into a tight hug and giving her a fierce kiss, before standing and leaving his mate and unborn kitten behind to begin his own part of the plan.

_To Be Continued._


	2. The Stranger Arrives

I do not own the Swatkats. I do own Fury and the the Thunderkat.

Thanks to Ulyferal for being my Beta Reader.

Chapter 1 - The Stranger Arrives

By Cody Furlong

_"You will find me in the past, for you are our future." - Excerpt from the journal of Chance Furlong._

**Megakat City**

_Sometime in the past…_

"Crud Razor, what are those things?" T-Bone shouted through his radio at his partner, while narrowly avoiding a laser blast from a drone.

"I don't know big buddy! It's like, every time we find a flaw to defeat one with, it just gets replaced! What's worse, it appears the remaining drones eventually modify themselves to eliminate that flaw. That way none of them can be destroyed the same way more than a hand full of times!" Razor exclaimed as T-Bone spun the jet between two buildings.

For the past five minutes, he and T-Bone had been nothing but target practice for the silver spheres. When the spheres had first found them while out on patrol, they were few in number and relatively easy to take out. But now they were being attacked by stronger packs of them.

"We're already low on ammo. We have to do something before we get our tails blown off! Where are the Enforcers when you need them?" T-Bone growled as the Turbokat shuddered with impacts, apparently the drones could use bullets too.

"They got taken out earlier than usual. The drones are obviously after us and I guess they didn't want the Enforcers interfering. We're on our own until Feral can scramble some more back up." The caramel furred kat replied as the jet rocketed down to street level trying to get away from the machines.

But no such luck, as the jet was peppered by more slugs' seconds later.

Razor quickly scanned their surroundings for an escape route before shouting out. "T-Bone, take the tunnel!"

"You sure, bro?" T-Bone asked, he had had the same thought as his partner, he also shared his concerns.

When their low ammo warning had made itself known earlier, Razor had remembered back to how they had beaten Hard Drive after he had "unplugged" them with that ray. Now, as he had then, the slim kat suggested they try to out- fly and out- smart the spheres. A plan that was successful in taking out several more of the menaces.

However the drones only became smarter and more agile in response.

Taking the Megakat Tunnel again would be a huge risk. Inside it the smaller and now smarter spheres would have more room to maneuver than the larger jet. To make matters worse, the tunnel was filled with debris from the drones missed shots rather than before when it had been relatively free of obstacles.

It was the perfect place for a trap….

"Obviously these things are being produced and controlled by someone and the only way we're gonna stop them, is if we find out who that is and where they are." Razor said then paused as T-bone pulled a loop before continuing.

"Except, the problem is, the signal they're using is heavily encrypted and I can't track it with the Turbokat's computer. I need the computer in the lair to do that. If we can get through the tunnel, the debris might slow the drones down long enough for us to get our tails back to the hanger." The slim kat finished.

They both knew the chances of making it through that gauntlet were slim. But they performed the impossible on a near weekly basis, so why should this time be any different?

"I have faith in you brother. I know you'll get us through it." Razor spoke with conviction, reaching forward to clasp T-Bone's shoulder tightly.

"Thanks, brother." The brawny kat confirmed, bringing one paw up to squeeze Razors.

For a split-second which could have lasted an eternity, they sat there, together, letting everything else but them fade away, until…

"Alright, hold on tight, I'm tak'n us in!" T-Bone's voice rang out, ending the moment.

Releasing Razor's paw, he griped the control stick in both of his before jerking it to one side, sending the Turbokat towards the Megakat Tunnel.

As the jet roared into the narrow confines, its pursuing drones split up. Two of them stayed behind, while two more followed the jet in. The other four, using their smaller size took a shorter path to arrive at the opposite side, before the SWAT Kats could.

Inside the Turbokat's cockpit, with T-Bone concentrating on his piloting and Razor using the jet's sensors to guide them, neither realized they were being followed by a few less drones, until…

"T-Bone!" Razor suddenly yelped, warning his burly friend of the drones hovering at the exit.

"I know, I see 'em! What do you want me to do, stop?" The chocolate on golden tabby growled back, while desperately trying to figure out what to do now.

Even if he could turn the jet around inside the tunnel, he had no doubt that he would only find more of those metallic menaces behind them.

He was just about to throttle back their speed, to give them a few more seconds to formulate a plan, conscious of the drones speeding towards them from behind, when he suddenly found his path forward clear. Four beams of coherent light speared out of seemingly nowhere and into the spheres, ending their existence in flashes of fire and peals of thunder.

"Whoa, T-Bone whoever those shots came from just vaporized four of 'em at once!" Razor gasped.

"I know, I saw it! I wonder who that was. "T-Bone replied, equally impressed while powering the jet back into the open air.

"I think, we're about to find out bud." The slim tom answered him, eyeing the new blip on his radar with interest as it approached.

When the duo got their first look at the approaching craft, they were amazed by what they saw. The jet, if it could be called that, looked more like a flying wing with a cockpit jutting out of the front and twin diagonally slanted tail fins sticking up in the back.

As the craft pulled up alongside them, T-Bone noted that it had forward swept wings and appeared to have the same wing span as the Turbokat, when its wings were fully extended.

T-Bone's continued study revealed several other very familiar features as well. While its paint scheme of black and silver was undoubtedly cool, it was the set of slash marks running down its sides from just below it's cockpit that caught his eye. Except for being silver, instead of crimson like the Turbokats, they would've been identical.

As he studied the jet more closely, he noted the externally mounted weapons alongside the hull and from its wing tips. It was shocking to see what could be their own Cement Launcher and Mega laser. Only this jet had two and four of them, respectively.

It was disturbing! This could've been a twin of their own jet except for the differences that he could see.

"Hi guys, I thought you could use a paw." A light baritone voice suddenly came over the Turbokat's radio.

"Yeah, you might say that, thanks for the help. What's your name?" Razor radioed back.

"I go by the call sign Fury, while my jet is known as the Thunderkat." The voice identified itself.

"The Thunderkat, huh, that's one impressive jet you've got there, Fury." T-Bone's deeper baritone broke into the conversation.

"Thanks T-Bone, the Turbokat is one radical ride too. But enough compliments for now, I do believe we have some drones to take care of." Fury's voice came back.

"He's right T-Bone, there'll be time for talking later. Right now we have to deal with these drones." Razor reminded his partner. "Fury, can you trace the signal the drones are using?" He directed a question to the stranger.

"Yes I can! You'll find Zed in a warehouse south of here. He is the progenitor of these metallic menaces. I'm transferring the info to you now." Fury answered a few seconds later as a new unmoving blip appeared on Razor's radar screen.

"Crud, no wonder we're having such a hard time with these things!" Razor cursed.

"Yeah, I thought we saw the last of him the first time. I guess he must've backed himself up before I pulled the plug. Now that we know who it is, what's the plan to stop him?" T-Bone asked.

"While you two go and say hello, I'll keep the drones off your tail." Fury suggested.

"What do you think, bud?" T-Bone asked, wanting his friends opinion.

"It sounds good to me. One of us needs to distract the drones and with a fresh jet, Fury is in a better position to do it." Razor confirmed.

"Alright." The big kat reluctantly agreed.

For some reason this guy was making him uneasy, there was something about him that seemed eerily familiar. What that was, he couldn't tell, but they had to work together to stop Zed. Shaking off the feeling he pointed the Turbokat's nose towards Zed's hiding place.

As the Turbokat raced towards Zed's warehouse it was greeted by more spheres. But before they could open fire, the Thunderkat swooped in, taking some of them out with a mix of cement and what looked like tar, fired from its Cement launchers. A few others fell to a group of Banshee, Scrambler, and some other kind of missiles neither Razor nor T-Bone could identify, before finally flying off with the remaining drones in tow.

"Alright, I've cleared your path to the door, now all you have to do is knock." Fury spoke as the Thunderkat and drones disappeared behind a building.

"So buddy, how are we going to deal with that bowling ball with a brain?" T-Bone queried as the jet neared their destination.

"Simple, I'm going to do as Fury suggests and knock, with everything we have left. Which unfortunately isn't much." Razor returned, readying the last of his explosive missiles.

"Your gonna blow up it up? Razor, have you gone crazy?" The tabby roared in horror.

"Chill, bro, that warehouse was going to be torn down next month anyway and it's far enough away from the others they won't get caught in the blast." Razor reassured his friend.

"Well alright. You ready to save the taxpayers the money?" T-Bone asked, relieved they wouldn't be putting anymore kats at risk.

"Sure thing partner, just line us up with the main doors." The slim kat responded.

T-bone did just that, bringing them in-line with the large sliding double doors. As they approached, the doors parted and a handful of spheres emerged before racing off in the direction Fury had gone.

Apparently Zed was too busy pumping out and controlling his drones to notice the Turbokat flying into striking range, or the missiles launched from its underside.

As the missiles streaked towards the warehouse's still open doors, T-Bone and Razor held their breath. This was it! They were completely out of ammo now. If this didn't work, Fury would have to finish the mission on his own. However, the explosion seconds later, proved they need not have worried.

"Great shot, buddy!" T-Bone cheered. "I wonder if Fury survived those drones." He asked his partner.

"Thanks, your flying is as great as ever. I'm picking up Fury's signal out over the bay, let's go check it out." Razor replied.

"Roger that." The big kat agreed, pulling the jet around and speeding off toward the bay.

When they arrived, the two found the Thunderkat hovering over the water a short distance away from the marina. As they hovered to a stop next to it, the two were surprised to see that it didn't have a single scratch on it!

"Hey Fury, what happened to the drones?" The burly tabby radioed.

"They're at the bottom of the bay. When you took out Zed, the ones that hadn't been destroyed shut down." Fury answered.

"You must be one heck of a pilot to have survived all of those drones without a scratch out." T-Bone complemented.

"How I did it, is my little secret." Fury evaded.

"Thanks again for helping us. I don't want to sound rude but, who are you, where'd you come from, where did you get that jet and why are you helping us?" Razor spoke up, his mental voice was telling him that he should recognize the Thunderkat, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"I told you. You can call me Fury and I come from Megakat City. Anything else about me or the Thunderkat is best left for when we're talking face to face. You never know who could be listening in over the radio. As for my helping you, let's just say, I'm hoping you'll return the favor someday. Now you'll have to pardon my cutting our conversation short, but Feral's coming and we should be getting out of here. I'll be seeing you around guys." Fury countered before jetting off into the city.

"Well, how do you like that?" T-Bone huffed after the jet disappeared from sight.

"He's right bud, the Enforcer's are on the way. Fury's jet must have some pretty advanced sensors to have picked them up before I could, not to mention knowing that Feral is leading them." The small kat said in reluctant admiration.

"Alright, I guess we better head home too." T-Bone sighed, before bringing the Turbokat around and streaking off toward the Salvage Yard.

All the way home, Razor couldn't stop thinking about how familiar the Thunderkat looked. They had just arrived in the hanger when it suddenly hit him. Waiting until Chance had gone upstairs before acting on his hunch, Jake booted up the hanger's computer and went into his design files. Finding the file simply labeled Jet-001 he opened it to reveal a crudely drawn jet design with forward swept wings.

Jake smirked to himself before whispering three words. "It does work."

_To Be Continued._


	3. The Stranger's Revealed

The Journey

Chapter 2 - The Stranger's Revealed

By Cody Furlong

**Megakat City**

_Back in in the future…_

Two figures stood in a tiny hanger, silently gazing upon a lone jet. The jet was not the only vehicle here, but it was the only one of its kind. A jet upon which, all the hopes of the Resistance rode.

The figures, a queen, and a tom stood there brooding on what was about to happen when…

"It's time." The tom said, suddenly shattering the stillness.

He was wearing a tight fitting, dark blue flight suit with a silver harness. The front of the suit was unzipped, revealing that the Kat wore a dark colored T-shirt stretched across his broad chest beneath the suit.

The flight suit's short sleeves stopped just below the kat's shoulders, showing off the kats strong arms along with the tiger stripes that ran down them.

The queen, wearing what once was an Enforcer uniform turned and embraced the taller tom before speaking. "Good luck son, I'm proud of you, and I know your father would be too."

"Don't worry mom. I won't fail." The big kat whispered back stoically. Holding his mother tight, before releasing her and walking up to the jet.

The female kat sighed as she watched her son leap into the jet's cockpit, he reminded her so much of his father. How she wished he was still around to see how strong his son had become. Maybe then what her son was about to do wouldn't have been necessary….

The ex-enforcer was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of the canopy hissing closed and the black and silver jet powering up. Seconds later she closed her eyes as the jet vanished in a flash of light.

_Back in the Past…  
__Three days after the appearance of Fury._

The Swat Kats had been out on a routine patrol when Razor had detected a large energy source coming from an abandoned warehouse.

Deciding they should check it out, they were rewarded by finding Dark Kat on one of his, destroy Megakat City quests. As was his norm, he used his Creeplings to distract the Swat Kats so he could slip past them and make his escape.

"Crud Razor! How does he keep getting past us? T-Bone snarled as he and his partner raced down a hallway after the cloaked kat.

"I don't know buddy, we'll ask him once we catch him." Razor fired back as he watched Dark Kat round a corner ahead of them.

"Aw crud! He's going to get away!" The tiger striped tom roared when they came around the corner, and saw Dark Kat charging towards the doors at the opposite end of the short hall labeled "Lobby".

"Come on, we can still catch him!" Razor encouraged, picking up his pace to race through the swinging double doors after the menace.

When the duo burst through the doors into the Lobby, they surprisingly found Dark Kat standing in the middle of the room, looking towards the door to the outside which was standing wide open.

Confused, the two heroes looked around the villain to see why he had stopped. When they did, they had to gasp, for standing just in front of the exit was a kat that looked so much like T-Bone, that Razor did a double take.

Taking a closer look, Razor saw that this look alike was actually slightly shorter than his friend, and had slightly darker fur as well.

But he had just as much muscle, if not more as T-Bone, and was wearing a flight suit and mask that looked identical to T-Bone's except for a few differences in color. Finally around his right paw and wrist, he bore what looked like a modified Gloveatrix.

Looking beyond the figure, the slim kat could see the Thunderkat parked next to the Turbokat outside in the parking lot, it's externally mounted weapons glinting in the sun light.

"Sorry Dark Kat, but if you want to leave, you'll have to go through me first." The figure taunted.

Getting over his shock at seeing an apparently third Swat Kat, the giant cloaked kat looked between the exit, this new and obviously unexpected kat. Weighing his options, and deciding he could easily wipe this stranger out of his way, he charged forward to do just that.

"Alright then, that's what I'll do!" Dark Kat bellowed.

T-Bone and Razor watched on incredulously as who they now recognized as Fury just stood there while the mountainous kat closed in on him.

Dark Kat had planned on simply grabbing the kat and tossing him aside and had begun to reach out to do that when. Fury suddenly lashed out and grabbed hold of Dark Kat's arm. Then using the kat's own momentum against him, spun the huge tom around and threw the tom back and into one of the concrete pillars in the lobby.

Before Dark Kat could recover, Fury brought his Gloveatrix up and fired three miniature Spider Chain Missiles which quickly wrapped themselves around the giant kat and pillar.

As Dark Kat vainly struggled in the chain's embrace, Fury, Razor and T-Bone slowly approached each other to greet each other face to face, so to speak.

"So you're Fury, huh." T-Bone spoke first, his earlier feelings of familiarity coming back full force as he sized the other kat up. The similarities between Fury and himself was just downright eerie.

"That's me." Fury replied before looking over his shoulder at the still struggling Dark Kat. "I wouldn't struggle too much if I were you, you might set off the shock systems." He warned.

Turned back to the other two toms Fury smiled when the sizzling sounds of electricity and a yelp filled the air. "Why do they never listen?" He asked rhetorically, getting a good chuckle from the other two.

Razor quickly got over his mirth and held out his paw to Fury. "Thanks for the help again, if you hadn't been here we would've been chasing DK all over the city."

"No problem, I'm glad I could be of help to the legendary Swat Kats." Fury responded, taking the offered paw and shaking it.

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear anybody calling us legendary." T-Bone gasped, surprised at the praise as he shook Fury's paw too. Just then Fury's Gloveatrix chirped and a light began to flash on it.

"What's that?" T-bone asked pointing to the flashing light.

"That, is warning us that Feral is on his way." Fury answered, holding up his Gloveatrix arm so the other two could see the device better. "My Gloveatrix is linked up with my jet, so when it detected Enforcer units, it sent a signal to my Gloveatrix to warn me." He explained.

"Wow, why didn't I ever think of that? What else can it do?" Razor asked, eyeing the device eagerly.

Fury chuckled lightly before responding." I'm dunno, but now is not the place or time to be sharing tech secrets. Feral is one his way which is our cue to split."

With that, Fury turned tail and sprinted out to the waiting Thunderkat. Seconds later the jet was up in the air and roaring out of sight.

"Come on bud, lets head home. We'll probably see him again, you can argue about who has the better Gloveatrix later." T-Bone soothed his disappointed friend as they followed Fury's example and left.

_To be Continued..._


End file.
